World leaders, including US President Donald Trump, and banking officials from 20 of the largest economies in the world are gathering in Hamburg for the two-day G20 summit which kicks off on Friday — and protesters were waiting for them.

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Hamburg city officials and police earlier tried to negotiate with demonstrators over the march, which was planned to circle around the St. Pauli neighborhood adjacent to the G20 venue. Police ultimately refused to allow the protesters to march unless they removed their black face masks.

At times, police could be seen hitting and punching protesters thrown to the ground in a park close to the stadium of St. Pauli Football Club — only to move on to another group without making an arrest.

One group of protesters — who refused to speak with BuzzFeed News — could be seen breaking up paving stones and filling backpacks with rocks, bottles, and road flares for what was expected to be a full night of clashes with police just hundreds of meters from the summit.